Hosted Solutions - Impacting your ARPU

Volume IV, Issue 1
www.skinnywire.net
Logistics Solutions for Telecom Professionals
Plus:
•Future Proof Solutions
for Fiber Deployment
•Addressing the
Challenge of Packet Backhaul
AND - Walker’s 40th Anniversary Tour
Schedule, Page 18
Now printed on recycled paper!
We Can Think of a
Better Place for Your Money.
The Fujitsu FLASHWAVE® 4500 Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP) makes
digital cross connect a reality without an expensive overlay network. Add the
compact FLASHWAVE 4100 Extension Shelf and deliver profitable Ethernet,
Video On Demand, residential bandwidth and backhaul applications. With our
NETSMART® 1500 Element Management System or Hosted EMS, you can also
realize significant savings on operational costs.
us.fujitsu.com/telecom
© Copyright 2010 Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. FLASHWAVE® is a trademark of Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. (USA) FUJITSU (and design)® are trademarks of Fujitsu Limited.
All rights reserved. All other trademarks are2the property of their respective owners.
In This Issue . . .
Our industry has seen numbers of mergers and acquisitions over the years. With
goals of increasing economies of scale, improving
market reach, and creating
a larger technology portfolio,
many have fully realized a
more strategic market position.
Feature Articles
4
Hosted IP Telephony Solutions
Wise Guy
By Rodney Wise, Director of Engineering
Walker and Associates, Inc.
8
Meeting the Broadband Stimulus Challenge
By Randy Turner
Resource Articles
6
Future Proof Solutions for Fiber
Deployment
9
SIP Trunking Brings Many Benefits to
Business
12
Business Enterprise Deployment Solutions
13
Network Element Management:
A Hosted Solution
15
Addressing the Challenge of Packet
Backhaul
By Dave Lee
By ADC
By ADTRAN
By Lisa Smiley
By Fujitsu
Fighting for the Cure
14
Walker Turns 40!
16 Walker’s 2009 Top Performer Awards
18
Walker’s 40th Anniversary Tour Schedule
I participated right along with everyone else during our
transition toward becoming one company. I can tell you
firsthand that all associates from both companies came
together with one objective in mind - taking care of our
customers first. Everyone’s long hours and hard work
contributed to limited service disruptions, and led to increased confidence that our new company would be one
of the success stories among mergers and acquistions.
One benefit from the acquisition is more than a 50 percent
OEM partner level increase, which has enhanced Walker’s
buying power. The combined volume levels have earned
Walker its position as a dominant competitive distribution
player in the telecommunications industry.
An additional benefit is that our new OEM base has allowed Walker to expand our solution offerings and products. Included in this is our IP telephony solutions that
support SIP trunking, managed/hosted services, and
VOIP traffic aggregation. Some of the new partners that
help support these applications are 3Com, ActionTec, Allworx, Hatteras Networks and Zyxel.
Walker News
14
As a 40 year distribution veteran, it was perhaps inevitable
that Walker and Associates would also seek an acquisition in a complementary market space. Last August, that
vision became a reality when Walker purchased the nonaffiliate assets of Windstream Supply. Similar industry
reputations and common business practices are factors
that attracted Walker to Windstream Supply. Additionally,
each company’s go-to-market experience, order management processes, and logistic services made the acquisition one of the industry’s smoothest transitions, as noted
by our extensive customer base.
Walker’s go-forward market plan is servicing wireless and
wireline broadband providers, cable TV, government, enterprise network operators, and resellers, who are focused
on the delivery of high speed internet, video, data and
voice services. Walker’s technology concentration is on IP,
VoIP, Ethernet, fiber, FTTX, BLC, MSAP, optical multiplexing, routing, and wireless infrastructure.
As a newly enhanced company with 40 years of distribution experience, Walker is a solid company and manages
its business well. Our portfolio of products, services, and
resources are always being evaluated and enhanced, so
that we can deliver on your needs with accuracy and efficiency. We are adapting, growing, and winning, so win
with Walker in 2010!
The Skinny Wire is a bi-annual publication of Walker and Associates, Inc.
“Equaly Opportunity./Affirmative Action Employer m/f/d/v”
3
By Rodney Wise
Small to medium-sized businesses regularly review
their operating costs. From
advertising budgets to shipping cost evaluations, successful businesses have
been good at scrutinizing
these costs to maximize
profits. Not so long ago the
telephony portion of their
overall costs was almost
fixed without much room for
negotiation. Competition
and technology have
changed the telephony landscape.
There are many ways to provide voice to
these small businesses including traditional voice delivery systems and newer
technologies. Traditional choices include
Private Branch Exchange (PBX), Key
Systems, and Central Office Exchanges
Service (Centrex). In the past, these
choices were based on Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM) technology. Now
these choices are changing to IP based
technology options including IP PBX and
Hosted IP Telephony.
The IP PBX solution is similar to traditional PBX solutions but utilizes IP
in the transport and allows businesses
to converge voice and data traffic at
their locations. And like traditional PBX
deployment, the upfront cost to purchase, install and provision an IP PBX
is very significant and cost prohibitive for
many businesses.
Hosted IP telephony is similar to traditional Centrex where the service provider owns and manages all the network
equipment and “hosts” it in their central
office or data center. The service is
4
As Director of Engineering Services for Walker and Associates, Rodney
Wise confronts a variety of technical questions on a daily basis. His
broad background provides him a real-world perspective of challenges
and opportunities telecom engineers and project planners face in the
field. This experience, along with continual training from the manufacturing community and a staff of equally talented Sales Engineers provide
customers with a wealth of pre and post-sales engineering support. The
Wise Guy is a regular feature in The Skinny Wire and on our website,
www.skinnywire.net.
delivered over broadband access from
the provider’s location. Almost any
broadband access technology will work
including active Ethernet, T1, DSL and
Cable Modem. The service provider
may own the broadband access delivery mechanism to all of the customers
it serves or it may utilize contracted
access through other carriers. The only
premise equipment needed for hosted
IP telephony are routers or Integrated
Access Devices (IADs) and phones.
Analog or IP phones can be utilized
but IP phones enable more features
and functionality. IADs with their analog FXS ports are required when the
businesses want to utilize their existing
analog phones, modems, credit card
machines and fax machines. Sample
offices utilizing Hosted IP Telephony
are illustrated in Figure 1.
Advantages to using Hosted IP
Telephony services over on-premise
IP-PBX services are many. Some of
the most important cost advantages
are the businesses do not need hire
technical staff to maintain the network,
they do not have to purchase expensive PBX equipment and software and
they can leverage existing technologies that they may already own. The
main disadvantage is higher recurring
expenses.
The move of voice technologies away
from traditional TDM solutions toward
Hosted IP-based solutions will continue due to cost advantages and
accessibility to more features, and the
convenience of outsourcing network
troubleshooting.
5
Figure 1 – Hosted IP Telephony
By ADC
If we had a crystal ball to peer 10 years
into telecom’s future, what would we
expect to see in terms of fiber applications and services? On-demand
video, high definition programming,
data-intensive internet applications –
these are the current drivers for next
generation services. But these services only give us a glimpse of what may
be in our future. We are just beginning
to shed light on fiber’s true capabilities.
New bandwidth-intensive applications
are emerging that will likely push network designs back to the drawing
board: tele-medical care, virtual work
commuting, 3D online environments,
and global tele-conferences – to name
a few. Of these services, which will
actually take footing is anyone’s guess,
but this much is clear: the onus will
fall on the service provider, and their
network infrastructure, to deliver these
services to the public.
For service providers, readying for
these next generation services, now,
by implementing the right fiber technologies, is the only way to ensure
a quick, timely response to market
demands. The ability to respond quickly is essential to a service provider’s
success, as it helps to ensure customer satisfaction, reduce labor costs,
and keeps service providers at the
competitive forefront.
Service providers, who invest in a
connectorization strategy in their network plans, place themselves in the
best possible position to respond to
future services. Though a spliced
architecture offers the lowest upfront
construction costs, a connectorized,
or plug-and-play architecture, offers
more flexibility; flexibility to make adds,
drops and network reconfigurations.
And connectorization is more adapt6
able to network growth, as it requires
significantly less labor for passing and
turning up homes – enabling faster
network construction.
To illustrate this point, let’s explore two
areas of the network that commonly
require truck rolls: the distribution and
access portions of the network.
To turn up service in a spliced architecture, a technician would typically
be dispatched to the fiber distribution
hub (FDH) to splice a single fiber into
the splitter outputs. This requires the
expertise of a trained splice technician,
who charges at a significantly higher
labor rate. Also, splice labor results in
more capital equipment costs, such
as cleaving, stripping and splicing
machines.
In a connectorized architecture, service turn up is a faster, more efficient,
process. A technician, who would not
need to be a splicing expert, would
simply connect the distribution fibers
to the plug-and-play splitter outputs to
complete the subscriber circuit. Thus,
by using connectors instead of splices,
service providers reduce the overall
labor requirements for service calls,
and speed their response time exponentially.
By incorporating splitters with plugand-play outputs at the FDH, service
providers also give themselves the
ability to upgrade to future technologies more easily.
Consider the following scenario: There
are 144 customers being serviced at
the FDH; 24 customers need to be
converted to a new, high-definition
programming package. In a spliced
architecture, a technician would need
to break each one of the 24 subscriber
connections, and then splice each individual fiber to the splitter outputs configured for the programming package.
With a connectorized architecture, the
technician would simply remove the 24
connectors from the designated subscriber ports, and reconnect them to
the splitter outputs configured for the
new service plan; and this is all done
in a matter of minutes using plug-andplay connectors; no splicing or highly
skilled labor is required. Clearly, the
connectorized approach is the least
taxing in terms of labor, time and cost.
ed near the street. Again, this requires
the expertise of a spliced technician,
and the service call may require cleavage, stripping and other construction
equipment to complete the job. If
multiple homes require turn up or
changes in service, the labor requirements can quickly become arduous,
not to mention expensive. In contrast,
using a connectorized approach, the
turn up process is simplified considerably. Construction crews use factory
connectorized drop cable to connect
the ONT at the home to the service
tomorrow’s services - 3D television,
virtual work commuting, tele-medicine,
etc. - service providers who adopt a
connectorization strategy in their network plans will be best equipped to
rapidly respond to market demands. A
fast response helps to minimize labor
requirements, builds customer confidence, and ultimately staves off competitive pressures. Connectorization
also ensures more network flexibility,
where plug-and-play connectors promote easy changes, adds and reconfigurations. Simply put, connectoriza-
“Service providers, who invest in a connectorization
strategy in their network plans, place themselves in the best possible position to respond to future services. “
As with the distribution plant, the access
portion of the network offers immediate
and long-term benefits with a connectorization strategy. When called to turn
up a customer in a spliced architecture,
service providers dispatch a construction crew to splice the drop cable from
the home to the service terminal locat-
terminal. Due to the ease and speed
which crews can mate the connectors,
drop cable installation can be deferred
until service is requested. It is a smart,
cost efficient method for building fiber
infrastructure.
No matter what is on the horizon for
7
tion offers the best solution for futureproofing your fiber network, whether it
is in the central office, outside plant or
premises.
For more information on connectorization and future-proof solutions for your
next deployment, visit www.adc.com.
By Randy Turner
Marketing Communications Manager
Walker and Associates
Walker has diligently observed the
past year’s developments with the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) of 2009. The Broadband
Stimulus initiatives are finally paying off
for applicants, and more funds are on
the way. How can Walker assist you in
maximizing your opportunities during
this historic time?
You’ll find several important resources
available, including the two talented
and knowledgeable associates pictured here. Chris Walker, pictured on
the left, along with Anna Flippen, are
100% dedicated to promoting solutions
for applicants and award winners. During the application stages, these two
have proven helpful in promoting an array of RUS approved products for your
consideration. While Walker boasts relationships with more than 350 manufacturers (many have been added since
our acquisition of non-affiliate assets of
Windstream Supply ast summer), our
emphasis here is to heavily promote
the products we maintain in inventory.
Since one of the criteria for your stimulus projects is a “shovel ready” status,
we want to make sure you know we
have materials and equipment immediately at your disposal once funds are
awarded.
In addition, Chris and Anna are avail8
able by phone and email to assist you
with specific questions about the current NOFA, put you in touch with engineering resources, and research questions about specific technologies. Once
you have received your award, they
are poised to assist with project management issues, match you with services available through Walker that will
help maximize your award dollars, and
connect you with additional resources
through the life of your stimulus project.
Walker maintains a RUS Portfolio on its
website at http://tiny.cc/o4JM3. You’ll
find many of your preferred manufacturers listed there, including ADC,
ADTRAN, Emerson Network Power,
Force10, Fujitsu, Symmetricom, Telco
Systems, Telect, Tellabs, Westell and
more. As you research materials that
qualify for RUS funding, whether as part
of either BTOP or BIP opportunities or
not, this resource should be helpful in
identifying readily available equipment
that will stretch your budget dollars.
For several months Walker has been
producing weekly promotions on selected products that are of particular interest for broadband projects. If you have
not been receiving these html campaigns, you can contact either Chris or
Anna. They will be glad to learn more
about your interests, and add you to the
HTML distribution lists.
As the national broadband plan develops, we want you to be successful
in your endeavors. Our goal is to assist you throughout this entire process.
Contact us today to learn more about
the services we can provide as you navigate these historic opportunities.
Chris Walker
chris.walker@walkerfirst.com
336-731-5476
Anna Flippen
anna.flippen@walkerfirst.com
336-731-5366
By ADTRAN
SIP Trunking brings a wealth of benefits
to business networking. Many carriers
offer SIP trunks today which allow
businesses of all sizes to quickly and
easily make the move to VoIP while
preserving their investment in existing
telephony infrastructure. An integrated
access device or converged services
product like an IP business gateway
is used at the customer premises to
consolidate voice, data, and Internet
services onto a single circuit. There
is no longer any need to purchase
circuits for voice for connectivity to the
PSTN and additional circuits for data.
A converged service like SIP trunking
simplifies equipment, consolidates
billing, and provides the business
with a dynamic circuit that allocates
bandwidth on demand based on the
current voice and data needs of the
business. Whether interested in moving
to an IP PBX and IP phones or utilizing
an existing IP PBX or traditional phone
system with analog phones, fax, and
modems, a SIP Trunking service brings
a host of benefits to the business user.
A VoIP intelligent IP business gateway
is used for connecting LAN data
devices and includes a router for
data and Internet access. Often this
product includes everything needed
for connecting to the carrier’s VoIP
(SIP) network and for protecting
the customer’s data. A firewall and
integrated VPN capabilities protect
customer data while voice mechanisms
like robust Quality of Service ensure
voice traffic is delivered intact. The
SIP gateway also includes voice
ports and can provide local and
remote VoIP survivability and
performs any conversion from
analog to IP voice. It handles
all traffic, utilizing dynamic
bandwidth allocation and shaping
to ensure voice has top priority, with
growth in bandwidth, on-demand, to
support time of day or other increases
in demand for voice bandwidth. When
voice calls are not in use, the entire
bandwidth of the circuit is afforded to
data and Internet applications. With SIP
trunking, additional bandwidth or users
can be added quickly and easily as the
growth in users or applications occurs.
Likewise, IP business gateways for
SIP trunking provide E911 support
ADTRAN’s Trunking
Solutions
and emergency recovery protocols for
disaster recovery to ensure voice and
data connectivity at all times.
Some of the benefits of SIP trunking:
•
Consolidates circuits and services
– voice/data/Internet on a common circuit
•
Reduces overall communication
costs – less equipment, less circuits, better call rates
•
Provides dynamic bandwidth allocation
•
Enables business to reap the
benefits of VoIP while utilizing
existing telephony infrastructure
and preserving their investment in
existing PBX/IP PBX and phones/
fax/modems
•
Ability to quickly and easily add
users as you need additional
capacity and room for growth
•
Inherent quality of service, security, and emergency recovery
mechanisms come integrated into
the IP business gateway
SIP Trunking
• NetVanta 7100 - IP Communications Platform
• NetVanta 7600 - IP PBX
• IP 706 and 712 - IP Phones
IP Trunking
• Total Access 900/900e Series Single & Multi T1 IP Business
Gateways
• NetVanta 6310 - Modular IP Business Gateway
• NetVanta 6355 - VoIP Multiservice
Access Gateway
9
In summary, SIP trunking reduces
costs, simplifies the network, provides inherent flexibility, preserves
existing infrastructure investments,
consolidates equipment and billing,
provides user flexibility and dynamic
bandwidth allocation, includes an IP
business gateway that enables circuit
recovery in the event of an outage,
and provides room for growth for
business networks.
Optical Distribution Frames and Fiber Optic Panels
ADC Optical Distribution Frames provide a centralized point for termination, splicing,
slack storage and housing passive optical components, featuring industry-leading density and fiber management. Fiber Optic Panels provide fiber termination, splice and/or
slack storage and excellent cable management in a high-density, discrete panel solution
for network element, OSP, RNC and distribution network applications.
Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing (CWDM) Solutions
ADC Coarse Wave Division Multiplexing (CWDM) Solutions, part of the ADC’s ValueAdded Module (VAM) family, separate light, or wavelengths, allowing multiple signals
to be transmitted simultaneously over a single fiber. The benefits of this are easily
translated to your bottom line by installing easily, maximizing the existing fiber network
and enabling out-of-band testing.
FiberGuide®
ADC’s FiberGuide® Optical Raceway System offers the most robust fiber management with the greatest breadth of products. This innovative solution set is designed
to protect and route fiber optic patch cords and multi-fiber cable assemblies between
network elements and optical distribution frame areas.
OmniReach Multiport Service Terminals (MST)
The OmniReach Multiport Service Terminal (MST) incorporates hardened connector
technology that is designed to withstand the rugged outside plant environment. These
uniquely designed hardened connectors are factory-terminated and environmentally
sealed for use in drop cable deployments in optical access networks.
10
You are Here. So is ADC.
Whether you are a Rural Local Exchange Carrier, Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier, Municipality, Utility
Home Developer or Multiple System Operator, ADC’s OmniReach® FTTX solutions and full range of turnkey
services enable you to design the network that meets your needs and accelerates network construction
and deployment to bring new advanced services to your customers.
Visit adc.com/rus for Broadband Stimulus information and ADC’s RUS-listed products.
Walker and Associates carries the complete portfolio of ADC’s industry-leading
connectivity products.
OmniReach® Fiber Access Terminals
OmniReach Access Terminals provide a robust, user-friendly, and cost-effective
platform for delivering fiber optic service drops in FTTX deployments. For both
single-family homes, as well as multiple dwelling units, OmniReach access terminals provide physical protection, long-life reliability, superior fiber management,
and an aesthetically appealing appearance.
OmniReach RealFlex™ Drop Cables
ADC’s OmniReach RealFlex™ Drop Cables are an ideal solution for the unique
challenges encountered when deploying FTTX networks in today’s Multiple
Dwelling Unit (MDU) buildings. RealFlex Drops allow for a bend radius as small as
7.5 mm without changing attenuation characteristics of the cable and improve
insertion loss (IL) performance for 90 degree bend locations. In addition to the
improved bend radius performance, the rugged cable construction provides the
flexibility and durability to withstand the most demanding applications.
OmniReach Fiber Distribution Hubs
ADC’s OmniReach Fiber Distribution Hub (FDH) solutions provide for rapid connection between fiber optic cables and passive optical splitters in the outside
plant segment of Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks, facilitating fast service
connection and reconfiguration, simplified network installations and improved
installation efficiencies in the field.
11
Business Enterprise
Deployment Solutions By Lisa Smiley
VP/Marketing
Walker and Associates
Customer Asset Management Program
Whether you are deploying VoIP, SIP
trunks, or managed and hosted services, Walker and Associates has a
solution that will make your service deployment much easier. Our Customer
Asset Management Program (CAMP)
offers a variety of options that your
company can choose from to meet
your needs. We manage your assets
from inventory staging to customer deployment to handling customer churn.
Your Regional Account Manager will
walk you through your options and customize your solution.
We begin with warehouse management of your asset. Walker has an
expansive warehouse where you will
have a specific area designated for
your company. You can view that inventory twenty-four hours a day using
our online tools. You can review purchase orders and the status of your orders online as well.
Once you are ready to deploy that
product to a customer for service delivery, simply provide a release order.
This can be submitted online along with
configuration information. That con-
figuration then follows the order and is
loaded onto your equipment. Configuration services are available for an IP
phone, IAD, Router, Switch, IP PBX, IP
Business Gateway, or any combination
of units. Our configurations include the
following:
•
•
•
Basic Configuration --- customer
supplies the WAN, LAN, Default
Gateway and DNS IP information
and we build the configuration and
load on the product
Global Configuration --- customer
supplies their basic configuration
and we input the unique IP Address Scheme
Advanced Configuration --- in addition to the Basic Configuration
information, additional Advanced
Routing Protocols (OSPF, BGP,
EIGRP) or Voice, Frame-Relay,
NAT, VPN, Access-Lists or any
other type of customer specific
requirement is loaded on the product.
Once the configuration is loaded and
tested, then your product is packaged. We can place a custom label on
the package, or ship a combination of
items together as kit. A kit might include an IP PBX and five IP phones,
for example.
Since tracking of assets is important to
your company, CAMP provides a full
range of services to assist you with labeling and data management. We scan
the serial number(s) from the packages and record them in our system
along with the configuration for your
order. This asset record is accessible
24/7/365 using CAMP’s online tools,
along with all of your invoices and their
status.
The order will then be shipped and you
can track it via our online tools.
If for some reason you experience customer churn you can count on Walker
to perform reconditioning for redeployment. We will receive the displaced
unit into our warehouse, recondition the
unit, test it, provide the proper packaging, load a new configuration, and then
redeploy the unit to another customer.
All of this happens and your company
never has to handle the equipment.
Walker has been performing value
added services for over twenty years.
We have migrated from simple kits, to
multi-vendor integrated bays, to performing these configuration services.
We move with the market through technology advancements. We also listen
to our customers when it comes to fulfilling their needs. The greatest benefits of using Walker CAMP services
are reducing your craft and technical
personnel, tracking customer deployed
assets, correcting poor material handling issues, reducing staging area/
warehouse space, and providing JIT
customer deployment for service turn
up. Contact your local Regional Account Manager to discuss your customized solution options today.
12
By Fujitsu
There is a way to reap the benefits
of an EMS without large capital outlay.
There are many Element Management
Systems (EMS) on the market today
that are capable of doing the job, but
the IT infrastructure, software license
and expert technicians needed to
run an operator-owned EMS all
require significant investment.
This can make the operational, administrative and monetary benefits of an EMS
more difficult to realize.
One of the biggest challenges is how to manage
and operate your network
cost effectively.
While
many operators elect to outsource network management
completely, there is an alternative solution for those who want
to maintain control of their equipment and scale their element management to fit their own network. A
Hosted EMS solution relieves you of
the need to purchase, administer and
maintain your own software and server.
A managed service approach like the
Fujitsu Hosted EMS is an ideal solution
for operators who decide to actively manage their own network through an EMS,
but prefer to outsource the server and
software ownership, administration,
and maintenance. As a subscription-based service (annual rates
vary according to the number of
Network Elements to be managed), Hosted EMS is a good
choice for providers with small-
13
er networks who prefer OPEX to CAPEX
and are looking for an economical alternative to investing in the required EMS
servers and IT infrastructure.
With Hosted EMS, Fujitsu provides
access to a full-featured NETSMART®
1500 client, which the customer uses
to manage their network. The Fujitsu
servers are fully redundant, with daily
backups of all customer data; customers
access the system via secure IP tunnels
over a public connection, providing a high
level of security. In addition, Fujitsu is
responsible for server and software maintenance. This enables customer savings
on database and system administration,
maintenance and licensing costs associated with the NETSMART 1500 application or the server hardware, and any
hardware or software upgrade expenses.
The Hosted EMS solution, owned and
administered at Fujitsu, provides an
element management client that is 100%
server-side redundant. We fully manage
the EMS IT assets, directly enabling
reduced operational and capital costs
in several ways. If you operate Fujitsu
optical networks and prefer a managed
service solution, Fujitsu Hosted EMS is
a flexible, price-friendly service that can
solve operational worries and optimize
the overall health and efficiency of your
network.
Donna Nichols, Manager of Walker’s
Secondary Resales Team, formed a
team of associates to actively promote
breast cancer awareness at Walker
and Associates. Donna has been
actively involved personally with the
Susan G. Komen foundation for several years, but decided in 2009 to make
it official with a company team effort. Donna approached Mark Walker,
senior staff and the company’s board
members for official sanction of her
plans, and they gladly let her move
forward. Walker is a family owned
company that supports associates in
many aspects of personal interests
and community volunteerism. Active
team members from Walker included: Donna Nichols, Cynthia Burrage,
Holly Haworth, Stacey Myers, Teressa
Peterman, Delores Salley, Mitzi Tester,
Tracy Vogler, and Rodney Wise. The
Walker team motto was “Fighting for
the Cure one day at a Time!”, which is
exactly what millions are doing everyday. Walker and Associates is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2010.
A full decade before divesture of the Bell giant, Walker was already
firmly establishing itself in the telecom landscape. Along with all the
changes in the industry, Walker has expanded its reach into new
markets. Recognized nationally as a leading provider of next generation technology communications products, Walker has gained
the respect of industry leaders ranging from customers to manufacturers.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary, Walker released a commemorative calendar, which pays special tribute to the 1970s. Featuring
photos of associates, the calendar also highlights industry events
and notes of congratulations from its customers.
Additional copies are still available. To request yours, either call
Randy Turner at 800.401.2318, or email him at randy.turner@walkerfirst.com. Quantities are limited, so send in your request soon.
14
Donna’s interest in this cause is a personal one. Her mother was a Breast
Cancer survivor for many years, but
unfortunately she passed away last
spring. Donna held the 2009 programs in memory of her mother. She
expressed her feelings by saying, “You
just don’t realize how very much you
love someone until they are gone. This
was a task of love for my mother and
all others who have fought the fight
and eventually lost the battle in many
aspects of life, not just breast cancer.” Walker lost two colleagues this year to
other forms of cancer and they will
be greatly missed as well (Kathrine
McKnight and Ann Myers). Donna and her team more than doubled their pledge in 2009, which was
no small accomplishment given current economic conditions. Plans are
in place to make this an annual event,
drawing even more attention and participation among associates.
Dave Lee
Vice President, Business Development
Telco Systems, Inc.
The combined need for greater bandwidth
and lower costs have compelled mobile
network operators to look for solutions that
preserve their legacy voice infrastructure
while taking advantage of the cost and
scalability advantages that packet-based
technologies (i.e., HSPA+, WiMAX, LTE)
promise.
There are two major hurdles, however, that
operators are facing when deploying IP/
Ethernet (or packet-based) backhaul strategy. The first is accuracy and reliability of
timing and synchronization.
The two most prominent options for synchronization over packet networks are
IEEE1588v2 and Sync-E. The IEEE1588v2
standard is a packet-based sync recovery
mechanism that is transported in-band
with user data. However, without strict
QoS policies applied to all devices in the
path, it is susceptible to network congestion. Synchronous Ethernet (Sync-E) is a
promising option as it is isolated from the
user data path. Since it is a physical layer
implementation, it requires that all devices
in the network path support it in hardware.
This means it will not work in conjunction
with existing deployed devices that do not
have the capability to support Sync-E.
Interestingly, base station vendors began
on the 1588v2 path, while most network
equipment vendors began down the SyncE path. This, in conjunction with the issues
stated above, presents a significant challenge for operators who are designing and
deploying a packet backhaul network.
Telco Systems is introducing a number
of new products which will address these
issues by supporting “any-to-any” synchronization technologies. This will allow
the provider to push a clock out from any
source using any recovery mechanism.
For example, supporting the conversion
of BITS/GPS sources to Sync-E, then to
1588v2, and back again if necessary. This
can be done while maintaining the accuracy required by mobile networks. These
solutions will also support the phase synchronization requirements for LTE deployments.
Network congestion can be minimized with
H-QoS support by enabling a QoS policy
enforcement on a per service basis. This is
in addition to a comprehensive set of OAM
features thath ensure end-to-end quality
of service monitoring and management.
Multiple transport technologies – Provider
Bridges, MPLS, H-VPLS, VPLS – provide
the greatest degree of flexibility and scalability, and multiple resiliency mechanisms
including FRR, G.8031/G.8032, Fast Ring,
xSTP, LAG and LACP create a highly available network.
The second hurdle faced by operators is
training and the ease of use of these new
technologies. To ease this technology
transition, Telco Systems is introducing a
unique Service Management Platform designed to ease the operational side of deploying a packet backhaul network. It provides a full FCAPS network management
solution, “end-to-end” service provisioning
via a “point and click”, as well as planning
and resource management tools to lower
and optimize CAPEX and OPEX through
an easy-to-use graphical user interface.
Through the combination of our mobile
backhaul products and service management platform, Telco Systems solutions
are ideally suited to fit transparently into
a provider’s network. They offer a cost effective means to deliver IP services. In addition, they support legacy TDM services,
delivering precise timing with great flexibility, tremendous bandwidth scalability and
advanced traffic management. All are requirements for migration to high bandwidth
WiMAX, HSPA+ and LTE services. Telco
Systems significantly lowers the “cost per
bit”.
Walker and Associates held its annual
sales and marketing meeting in January, 2010 in Myrtle Beach, SC. Following days of sales strategy meetings, Walker followed its tradition of
recognizing outstanding performers
for the prior year’s service at the annual awards dinner.
Friends and
co-workers came together for a time of
celebration and camaraderie.
OEM Awards
Walker’s tier one OEM partners enjoyed the opportunity to network with
Walker’s sales and marketing teams,
and recognize top performers in 2009.
Recognized for outstanding performance in outside sales were Melissa
Daly, Bill Durham, Derek Granger, Bob
Hodowanic, Tom Kingery, Eddie Lester,
Rich Ferrante, and Lynn Soldano. The
insides sales recipients of OEM awards
were Matt Flowers, Kevin Foster, Lee
Ann Gilley, Brandi Greene, Chris Lasley, Dwayne Miller, and Joyce Needham.
Company Award
Walker and Associates was recognized
by ADTRAN for outstanding sales
achievement in 2009. The award was
presented to the company in recognition of being the largest service provider distribution partner for the year,
representing Walker’s seventh consecutive year of placement in this award.
Hank Ford Award
Lisa Smiley, Vice President of Marketing, presented the annual Hank Ford
Award, which recognizes an OEM representative who understands and exemplifies the ideal vendor representative. The award is in memory of Hank
Ford, formerly of Symmetricom, who
died of cancer is 2003. Hank’s years
of service to Walker were performed at
a superior support level, setting the bar
for other representatives. The 2009
award was presented to Greg Norton
of Force10 Networks. Lisa stated that
“Greg is a fantastic individual and partner for Walker. We have worked with
Greg for many years, and he has been
a long time friend. His dedication to
the success of Walker and Associates
was recognized by many due to his
hard work and support. I was proud to
present this award to such a deserving
individual.” Greg’s acceptance of the
award was emotional and heartfelt.
President’s Citation Award
This award is presented to marketing
managers who achieve 100% of their
annual sales goal. The marketing manager role is a technical marketing position, which requires an understanding
of the dynamics of products and technologies that drive the telecommunications industry. The goal of this position
is to apply and develop market strategies that will increase sales growth in
specific technologies, product types,
and across all OEM sales levels. Tyson
Philyaw was recognized for achieving
113% of his annual plan. Tyson is very
passionate about his daily efforts in order to be successful in his role.
Outside and Inside Sales
Performance Awards
The year 2009 was one of ups and
downs for many sales people. Achieving sales goals required a different
approach than years past. It was imperative to have the right relationships
and provide exceptional levels of support to customers, while also offering
competitive pricing. Walker recognized
multiple sales associates who worked
hard in 2009 to perform at optimal levels. Recognized in outside sales were
Melissa Daly, Rich Ferrante, and Lynn
Soldano, and those recognized in inside sales were Brandi Greene, Chris
Lasley, and Dwayne Miller.
Sales Person of the Year Awards
Tom Kane, Vice President of Sales,
along with Nicholle Britt and Scott Stoll,
Inside Sales Managers, took a special
moment to announce two of the highest achieving sales awards attainable
at Walker and Associates. Those were
the inside and outside sales people
16
of the year.
Along with a
trophy and
a monetary
award, the
outside
sales person of the
year also
earns the
coveted Red
Jacket.
The 2009 inside
sales recipient was
Lee Ann Gilley,
who has been with
Walker and Associates over 13 years.
This is Lee Ann’s
third consecutive
year receiving this
accolade.
She attributes
her success to the valuable resources
available at Walker as well as our suppliers. In Lee Ann’s response she stated “I was flabbergasted when my name
was announced, as I knew there were
so many others who could have received this same honor. It is a pleasure
to put forth the effort it takes to receive
such recognition, because I make it my
primary goal each day to serve my customers in the best manner possible.”
The 2009 outside sales recipient was
Ben Dierker who manages the southwestern US region and has been at
Walker since 1999. This is Ben’s second year obtaining this recognition.
Ben stated “I am extremely honored
and thankful for the recognition given to
me by our sales management team. I
would like to thank all of our associates
and our manufacturer partners for their
help in 2009. Without their support and
dedication I would not have received
this honor.”
“Most people want success and understand
that success is the direct result of achieving goals that began as dreams.” From the
book, Be the Red Jacket in a Sea of Gray Suits
17
JANUARY
SCTA Vendor Showcase
NTCA Annual Meeting & EXPO
Columbia, SC
Tampa, FL
FEBRUARY
AFCEA West
UTC Region 8, 9, 10 Meeting GTA 13th Annual Vendor Showcase
LTA Annual Convention
CalCom Showcase & Tech Expo
San Diego, CA
Reno, NV
Macon, GA
New Orleans, LA
Sacramento, CA
MARCH
MTA Annual Convention
ITA 2010 Showcase
NCTIA Technology Conference
UTC Region 3 Spring Meeting
TSTCI Plantmen’s Conference
RIITA Annual Conference and Expo
MTIA Show-Me Expo
UTC Region 6 Annual Meeting
CTIA Wireless 2010
SCTA Spring Convention
APRIL
Texas Communications Expo
TANE Spring Educational Symp.
OTA 2010 Outside Plant Seminar
OTA 115th Annual Convention
Broadband Properties Summit
RCA 18th Annual Convention
MAY
TTA 2010 Spring Meeting
NDTA TOC Conference & Showcase
OTA / WITA Joint Annual Conf.
UTC TELECOM 2010
KTA Annual Meeting
SPAWAR Homeland Security
Innovation Conference
JUNE
AMTA 2010 Summer Symposium
FAA Small Business Symposium
OK ITA (IL) Annual Convention
ITA (IN) Annual Convention
Tri-State TCI Technology Conf.
Destin, FL
Oklahoma City,
Lake Ozark, MO
Florence, IN
Norfolk, VA
JULY
CTA Summer Showcase
TCEI PSAM Event
Loveland, CO
Marble Falls, TX
AUGUST
Minneapolis, MN
LandWarNet Conference 2010
Portland, OR
MTIA Annual Conference
Winston-Salem, NC NTA 2009 Expo
Orange Beach, AL Tri-State Telecom. Conference
Fort Worth, TX
TTA Annual Convention
Des Moines, IA
NC Chapter AFCEA Show
Boonville, MO
Lenexa, KS
SEPTEMBER
Las Vegas, NV
TANE Annual Convention
Hilton Head, SC
OTA CO / Info. Tech. Seminar
TTA Conv. & Product Showcase
ITA Vendor’s Showcase
Belton, TX
FTTH Conference and Expo 2010
Bethel, ME
WTA Fall Annual Meeting
Newport, OR
PTA Technical Showcase
Columbus, OH
Addison, TX
OCTOBER
Las Vegas, NV
NCTIA What’s New Expo
WSTA Fall Conference and Exhibits
OSP EXPO 2010
Franklin, TN
MATSS
Fargo, ND
KTA-TTA Conference/Showcase
Skamania, WA
Midwest Telecom Expo
Indianapolis, IN
ATA Associate Member Showcase
Lexington, KY
NOVEMBER
Charleston, SC
ITA Annual Convention & Showcase
DECEMBER
MTA Annual Showcase
18
Tampa, FL
Branson, MO
Lake Tahoe, NV
Midway, UT
Murfreesboro, TN
Fort Bragg, NC
Dixville Notch, NH
TBD
Horseshoe Bay, TX
East Peoria, IL
Las Vegas, NV
Coeur d’Alene, ID
State College, PA
TBD
Wisconsin Dells, WI
San Antonio, TX
Kansas City, MO
Bowling Green, KY
Fort Wayne, IN
Anchorage, AK
TBD
Billings, MT
Innovative Solutions for Broadband Stimulus Projects
Dramatically Lowering
the Total Cost of Deployment
The Challenge:
Wireline carriers are faced with the difficult challenge
of transforming their existing networks to provide nextgeneration services, enabling not only voice and simple
broadband connections to the Internet, but newer
services like IPTV. The dynamics of these new services
are constantly evolving, making it difficult to identify the
right network architecture. Fiber access technologies
provide the ultimate solution for addressing consumer
access bandwidth, especially in greenfield deployments
using GPON technology for Fiber to the Home (FTTH)
applications. Also, the fact remains that there is a massive embedded base of copper infrastructure.
The Solution:
The ADTRAN solutions using GPON technology for fiber
access provide the perfect fit for bandwidth challenged
services. In addition, VDSL2 and bonded ADSL2+ are
enabling ultra-broadband speeds over copper, provided
that loop lengths are reduced. The innovative Fiber
to the Home (FTTH) and Fiber to the Node (FTTN)
broadband access systems from ADTRAN®
dramatically lower the total cost of deployment
for broadband services.
Call today to find out how ADTRAN and Walker
can help you develop smarter, more efficient networks.
www.walkerfirst.com • 800.WALKER1
Total Access® 5000
Multi-service Access Platform
n More flexible service deployment
n Greater network interface options
n Increased bandwidth
n
n
n
Centralized network management
Voice and data convergence
Single-vendor support and training
n
n
Easier technology migration
RUS accepted
Copyright © 2010 ADTRAN Inc. All rights reserved. ADTRAN and Total Access are registered trademarks of ADTRAN, Inc. Warranties may vary, visit www.adtran.com for details.
CO910B120109DMPT
19
Walker and Associates
PO Box 1029
7129 Old Hwy 52 North
Welcome, NC 27374
Since 1970
An Industry Leader Since 1970